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A Guide to the Vbh – Vijñāna-Bhairava Paul Clark

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A Guide to the Vbh – Vijñāna-Bhairava Paul Clark A Guide to the VBh – Vijñāna-Bhairava Paul Clark Śiva, you know, Lord of the Universe, metaphor for the experience of transcendental unity, and not just shakti - Paraśākti, supreme Goddess of the power of movement of the entire manifest AND unmanifest Universe, they’re just hanging out, you know? And She says “Riddle me this: obvs I already know the answers on the most transcendental level, but… just for laughs, explain it to me in human terms, that I may truly dig the groove.” And He says “Damn fine question! It goes like this:” A Guide to the VBh – Vijñāna-Bhairava Contents How and Why to Use this Guide ..................................................................................................................................................................................5 About Kashmir Shaivism ..............................................................................................................................................................................................5 Summary of the Source Text ........................................................................................................................................................................................7 TABLES of the 112 Dhāraṇās ........................................................................................................................................................................................9 Notes on the Dhāraṇās: .............................................................................................................................................................................................32 Upāyas- the four classes of methods .........................................................................................................................................................................33 Āṇava Upāyas – Body methods ..................................................................................................................................................................................35 Śākto Upāyas – Mind methods ..................................................................................................................................................................................36 Śāmbhava Upāyas – Neither methods .......................................................................................................................................................................37 Anupāya – No method ...............................................................................................................................................................................................38 Sex in the VBh ............................................................................................................................................................................................................38 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................39 Addendum .................................................................................................................................................................................................................41 Acknowledgements- Much gratitude to friends and fellow explorers AA, AC, KH, MB, SW, & SzW, who kindly read drafts, contributing editing help and suggestions that were invaluable in bringing this guide together. “The yogi who can penetrate below the surface and realize the underlying bliss will always be full of the highest delight, for his own Self is nothing but that blissful consciousness.” –Singh, SS p. 68 How and Why to Use this Guide This article is a guide to the Vijñāna-bhairava (VBh), a manual of meditation practice dating from the 9th century or earlier. The version of the text referenced here is published by SUNY Press as The Yoga of Delight, Wonder and Astonishment,1 with Sanskrit translation and commentary by Jai Deva Singh, student of Swami Lakṣmaṇjoo, a 20th century tantric master. The introduction to the book is a superb explanation of the context and meaning of tantra as expounded by this pivotal source text, written by Editor Paul Muller-Ortega, a leading scholar of Kashmir Shaivism and editor of the SUNY Press Tantric Studies series of which that book is a part. This guide has several purposes: for the reader already familiar with the VBh, it provides a quick reference to the 112 diverse Dhāraṇās (methods) described in the text. The tables below provide a brief summary of each Dhāraṇā and its intended results along with page and reference numbers, and comments. For the reader who is learning about tantra for the first time, the essays that follow provide a guide and reference to the context and concepts assumed by the text. This helps the VBh serve as a clear and authentic introduction to tantric ideas and practice, instead of being overwhelmingly dense and technical as it otherwise might be. In addition, by summarizing and indexing the Dhāraṇās, we get a broad and rich view of the diversity of tantric practice. This gives deeper insight into categories of practice which are discussed in exhaustive detail in other tantric texts such as the Śiva Sutras and Tantrāloka by showing clear examples of such practices. The VBh presents a remarkably complete system for such a terse set of verses, with methods ranging from very simple and modest to extremely advanced, with a rich variety in-between. About Kashmir Shaivism Kashmir is a lush mountain valley at the corner of India, Persia, China, and Tibet and was a vital cultural center of ancient india. Tantric scholars of the 9th century argued metaphysics with Buddhist and Vedantic scholars in Indian courts of the day, absorbing philosophy and practice from all these sources into their tradition’s own deep roots, finally evolving highly refined methods of attaining realization supported by a sophisticated philosophy of the non-dual nature of consciousness. As one of the oldest and most respected of the eleven core texts of Tantra, 1 Another edition of the same translation is Vijnanabhairava or Divine Consciousness, identical minus the leading introductory essay in the SUNY press edition which tends to become unavailable from time to time. the VBh is a remarkable expression of the nature of householder practice in sharp contrast with renunciant yogic practice such as those practiced by Buddhist and Vedantist religions. Because Tantra as Śiva worship originated from much older Rudra traditions of the lower Neolithic pre-agrarian pastoral layer, before the advent of a separate priest class, its practices (like those of Judaism) are not predicated on specialist priests but on the head of each household providing that function at the hearth. For the householder, life is not something to be renounced when there are chores to be done, families to raise, pets to feed, businesses to run and communities to participate in. So naturally householder spiritual practice is designed to provide a deep and refreshing plunge into an experience of transcendental, unconditioned, and blissful consciousness, but then afterwards to bring that awareness deeply and richly back into expression in everyday life and work. In this way, an individual life will parallel and embody the cyclic expansion and contraction of separateness and unity that is Śiva’s dance of bliss. Kashmir Shaivism expounds a philosophy and ethics of practice that are consistent with householder life, in sharp contrast with those of renunciant monasticism. This means a profound spiritual acceptance, embrace, and even utilization of life’s experiences including music, art, dance, culinary delights and (famously) sex, but also includingthe homely emotions of seeing a beloved friend, family member, or even the picture of a respected leader. All these very human feelings are treated at very least as beneficial reminders of the true nature of the Self, and at most as vehicles for direct experience of realization of that Self as non-different from the infinite. To tantra the senses and feelings are not mere distractions or impurities but opportunities for transmuting even the worst and especially the best of experiences into profound realization. “On occasion of the assertion ‘I am me, this is mine’, the thought goes to that which does not require any support. Under contemplation of that, one attains abiding peace.” D106, VBh 131 To tantra ego is not the enemy, some false and impure stain to be despised, starved, and beaten into submission but rather a natural organ of consciousness which not only allows point of view but also is a means to experience realization of ultimate Self. That we are conscious at all is proof of our identity as pure consciousness, as Śiva. The VBh shows numerous ways that all powerful experiences can be beneficial even to someone who does not practice meditation at all. “Wherever the mind of the individual finds satisfaction (without agitation), let it be concentrated upon that. In every such case the true nature of the highest bliss will manifest itself.” D51, VBh 74 And yet there is simultaneously another more sophisticated level of meaning in the text. Many of the practices, especially the simplest and most advanced ones, cannot easily be practiced as such because even the intention to practice them can interfere with their function. For the advanced practitioner, one who has spent years stabilizing
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